How Technology Has Changed The Teaching Methodology For Good

Technology

Education for toddlers has evolved over the years and the use of technology nowadays is significantly enabling and enriching the way education is delivered in early years learning centres.
Technology is playing a key role in making it easier for toddlers and kids to learn new concepts. Since the subject is now explained to the kids through a screen or a gadget with a lot of audio-visual elements, the children are able to understand them better as compared to when they are given mere oral lessons or explained with simple two-dimensional pictures. For Example, rhymes are now easily picked up by kids with the help of animated videos with alluring sound beats.
What technology has done is that it has made kids to show eagerness and involvement much more than in yesteryears. Even they want to look at and experience these lessons like rhymes and puzzles when they are taught with the help of videos and other modern technology tools. Not just that, they are able to learn something new faster. The hr-dimensional videos and caricatures help them understand things better.
These modern technology tools are also helping kids to retain the subject matter and new learning for a longer time. Simple oral recitation of a poem or a rhyme by the teacher usually does not remain in their memories for a long time but the rhymes learnt with audio-visual aid tends to remain in their memories for far longer periods.
Children are also more adept in technology these days than earlier. If they are made to watch something on a tab, they don’t feel unfamiliar as they have already seen smartphones and tabs with their parents, and possibly fidgeted with them a bit too.  Hence the teachers and instructors in preschools are blending in the new methodologies and cutting edge technologies along with the grooming and upbringing of the kids these days.
Various useful new teaching methodologies are emerging in the world, particularly in Finland and being adopted by new-age schools for delivering maximum results and improving overall learning experience of the children. Phonics and other methodologies are being adopted in good schools these days to augment the learning experience of kids.
There are augmented reality tools that make animals come alive on the classroom TV or smart screen with the help of a document camera and various cards provided with the augmented reality kit. This helps the kids discern better and learn the sounds that animals make rather easily. Similarly, augmented reality is also helping far better in letter identification and letter sounds for enhanced learning of the kids. There is marked difference in the way children participate in the class and with the course content with phonetic word-building and better sentence structuring.
There are applications which make use of a phone, mostly iPad, to project the drawings of the kids on the classroom TV in three-dimensional pictures. The iPad is mounted with a special reflector on the top to mirror the camera of the phone to the TV screen. All the scribbling and work of the kids comes to life with the help of this technology. This makes the kids want to come to the class every day.
Research done in developed countries has shown that kids who work in pairs on an iPad fare better than those who work independently. Thus new-age schools in India have started inculcating these gadgets in the classroom teaching aids and then making kids work on them in pairs. This has shown remarkable results in collaborative skills of the kids in India too.
Technology tools are also helping bridge the gap between parents and the teachers. There are various new ways through which parents can communicate with the teacher, stay updated with their child’s progress at school and know exactly where their wards may be lacking in class. There are apps and tools through which teachers can convey the exact areas where the child can be improved to the parents and then parents can work on those aspects at home with the child.
There is ample evidence that both parents and children are continuing to show more inclination for new-age and technological tools for learning. Schools, academicians and technology professionals are sharpening their focus on the children and are open to adopting any new technology which has proven efficacy and has the ability to enhance education experience and learning of kids.
Technology is here to stay and will only evolve for the better. Only modern schools that adopt these technology tools discreetly will survive in the long run as they will be able to deliver more to the kids and their parents in a meaningful way.
About the Author
A dynamic serial entrepreneur, Pradeep Jolly, is the Co-Founder of Wonderland and Early Learning Village Play Schools. Recognizing a huge lacuna in the preschool and kindergarten schooling arena, he established these schools which have excelled and have become examples of ideal pre-schools in the country. Pradeep has completed his graduation in Economics (Hons.) from Delhi University and MBA from Durham University. Under his leadership, Early Learning Village has been ranked as the “Best Brand Identity in Asia 2018”. Also, Wonderland Play School has bagged an award at ASSOCHAM “Best School in Teaching-Learning Practices”. Apart from this, Pradeep has effectively set up and expanded many businesses like entertainment, numerous hospitals and real estate projects.

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